Comparison of Nitrate Levels in Raw Water and Finished Water from Historical Monitoring Data on Iowa Municipal Drinking Water Supplies

Nitrate contamination of water sources is a concern where large amounts of nitrogen fertilizers are regularly applied to soils. Ingested nitrate from dietary sources and drinking water can be converted to nitrite and ultimately to N-nitroso compounds, many of which are known carcinogens. Epidemiologic studies of drinking water nitrate and cancer report mixed findings; a criticism is the use of nitrate concentrations from retrospective drinking water data to assign exposure levels. Residential point-of-use nitrate data are scarce; gaps in historical data for municipal supply finished water hamper exposure classification efforts. We used generalized linear regression models to estimate and compare historical raw water and finished water nitrate levels (1960s--1990s) in single source Iowa municipal supplies to determine whether raw water monitoring data could supplement finished water data to improve exposure assessment. Comparison of raw water and finished water samples (same sampling date) showed a significant difference in nitrate levels in municipalities using rivers; municipalities using other surface water or alluvial groundwater had no difference in nitrate levels. A regional aggregation of alluvial groundwater municipalities was constructed based on results from a previous study showing regional differences in nitrate contamination of private wells; results from this analysis were mixed, dependent upon region and decade. These analyses demonstrate using historical raw water nitrate monitoring data to supplement finished water data for exposure assessment is appropriate for individual Iowa municipal supplies using alluvial groundwater, lakes or reservoirs. Using alluvial raw water data on a regional basis is dependent on region and decade.     

Safe speed limits for a safe system: The relationship between speed limit and fatal crash rate for different crash types

Objective: The objective of this article is to provide empirical evidence for safe speed limits that will meet the objectives of the Safe System by examining the relationship between speed limit and injury severity for different crash types, using police-reported crash data.

Method: Police-reported crashes from 2 Australian jurisdictions were used to calculate a fatal crash rate by speed limit and crash type. Example safe speed limits were defined using threshold risk levels.

Results: A positive exponential relationship between speed limit and fatality rate was found. For an example fatality rate threshold of 1 in 100 crashes it was found that safe speed limits are 40 km/h for pedestrian crashes; 50 km/h for head-on crashes; 60 km/h for hit fixed object crashes; 80 km/h for right angle, right turn, and left road/rollover crashes; and 110 km/h or more for rear-end crashes.

Conclusions: The positive exponential relationship between speed limit and fatal crash rate is consistent with prior research into speed and crash risk. The results indicate that speed zones of 100 km/h or more only meet the objectives of the Safe System, with regard to fatal crashes, where all crash types except rear-end crashes are exceedingly rare, such as on a high standard restricted access highway with a safe roadside design.     

Injury risk functions for frontal oblique collisions

Objective: The objective of this article was the construction of injury risk functions (IRFs) for front row occupants in oblique frontal crashes and a comparison to IRF of nonoblique frontal crashes from the same data set.

Method: Crashes of modern vehicles from GIDAS (German In-Depth Accident Study) were used as the basis for the construction of a logistic injury risk model. Static deformation, measured via displaced voxels on the postcrash vehicles, was used to calculate the energy dissipated in the crash. This measure of accident severity was termed objective equivalent speed (oEES) because it does not depend on the accident reconstruction and thus eliminates reconstruction biases like impact direction and vehicle model year. Imputation from property damage cases was used to describe underrepresented low-severity crashes―a known shortcoming of GIDAS. Binary logistic regression was used to relate the stimuli (oEES) to the binary outcome variable (injured or not injured).

Results: IRFs for the oblique frontal impact and nonoblique frontal impact were computed for the Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale (MAIS) 2+ and 3+ levels for adults (18–64 years). For a given stimulus, the probability of injury for a belted driver was higher in oblique crashes than in nonoblique frontal crashes. For the 25% injury risk at MAIS 2+ level, the corresponding stimulus for oblique crashes was 40 km/h but it was 64 km/h for nonoblique frontal crashes.

Conclusions: The risk of obtaining MAIS 2+ injuries is significantly higher in oblique crashes than in nonoblique crashes. In the real world, most MAIS 2+ injuries occur in an oEES range from 30 to 60 km/h.     

Before the crash: A systematic analysis of police narratives to determine the prevalence of pre-crash factors in fatality road transport crashes

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to identify the prevalence of pre-crash factors that were present in fatal road transport crashes for the deceased and counterpart road user.

Methods: The study is a retrospective population-based case series study of transport-related deaths reported to coroners in Australia from 2013 to 2016. Data was extracted from the National Coronial Information System.

Results: In total, 6,137 fatality crashes occurred during the study period. Police reports were available for 5,523 crashes (89.9%). The most frequently reported pre-crash factors reported behaviour specifically drivers (e.g., driving without a license or while license was disqualified). Presence of intoxicating substances were also reported in the deceased and counterparts. Analyses of toxicology reports are continuing to determine if rates are comparable to level of use in community.

Conclusions: Coronial report provide detailed information that may be pertinent to understanding and potentially preventing crashes. Also emerging from the data is the extent of pre-crash factors that relate to illegal or deviant behavior and whether these are contextual or contributory factors.     

基于平衡计分卡的大气环境监测数据共享网站绩效评估研究

基于平衡计分卡原理,结合网站特点,建立了大气环境监测数据共享网站绩效评估模型。以共享网站的战略愿景为模型框架的中心,以财务、顾客、内部程序、学习与成长等4个基本维度为一级指标,构建了绩效评估指标体系,并采用层次分析法确定了各指标的权重。利用该模型对长三角区域空气质量预测预报系统和宁波市空气质量预报预警平台的大气数据共享模块进行实证研究,绩效评估结果均为良好。     

中国环境效率评价及其影响因素实证研究

环境效率是实际污染排放和潜在污染排放的一种度量。本文运用包含污染排放的环境DEA模型,测算了1998-2007年中国省际环境效率,检验了其收敛情况。结果显示,全国环境效率总体水平较低,省际、区域间差距较大,表明现阶段实行地区间减排合作、推动环保技术在区域间扩散的现实必要性;分别从20032、005年开始,省际、区域环境效率差距逐渐缩小,存在一定的收敛趋势;同时,本文采用Tobit模型分析了影响环境效率因素,研究发现人均GDP对提高环境效率具有积极影响,而工业比重上升、财政分权度的提高以及贸易自由化对环境效率具有显著的负面影响。最后,基于实证研究的结果,就减少地区污染排放、提高我国环境效率给出了相关政策建议。     

上海霾气候数据序列重建及其时空特征

利用上海11个气象站点1960～2008年日均相对湿度、能见度以及天气现象资料,重建了上海近50a霾气候数据序列,并从时间和空间两个方面分析了上海霾日数的气候特征和变化规律。结果表明,上海霾气候数据序列重建值与报表记录值之间变化形态存在着较好的一致性,重建值较记录值偏高。1960～2008年,上海霾日数以9.7d/10a的线性趋势显著增加,2002年以后霾日数总体上呈减少趋势。上海多年平均霾日数以冬季最多而夏季最少。近50a,上海霾日数呈现出西南部最多-市区较多-东北和东南部最少的空间分布,霾日数的空间变化趋势则表现为西南部增加较多而东部增加较少。1981～2008年,上海霾日数在西部和南部都增加,东部则减少。     

基于网格划分的宜兴市区滨水区可达性评价

城市滨水区可达性不仅仅是空间距离的阻隔,还包括人们对滨水空间的需求及滨水区自身对公众的吸引力。依据潜能模型的概念,选取人口密度、滨水区综合质量和以土地利用表达的交通作为评价因子,借助ArcGIS93软件,建立了基于网格划分的滨水区可达性计算模型。该模型通过对研究区域进行等距网格划分以及定量计算网格内的人口密度、最小阻力成本和滨水区综合质量来进行滨水区可达性的定量评价。运用该模型评价了宜兴市中心城区居民至各滨水区的可达性水平,发现各滨水区平均可达性水平存在明显差异,最高的是团氿,最低的是蠡河;对每个滨水区而言,可达性从空间上均呈现出以滨水区为中心由内向外递减的趋势。评价结果可为城市滨水区合理建设格局的制定和居民享用滨水区的公平性提供决策参考     

An Empirical Study on the Environmental Kuznets Curve for China’s Carbon Emissions:Based on Provincial Panel Data

Based on the Environmental Kuznets Curve theory,the authors choose provincial panel data of China in 1990 2007 and adopt panel unit root and co-integration testing method to study whether there is Environmental Kuznets Curve for China’s carbon emissions.The research results show that:carbon emissions per capita of the eastern region and the central region of China fit into Environmental Kuznets Curve,but that of the western region does not.On this basis,the authors carry out scenario analysis on the occurrence time of the inflection point of carbon emissions per capita of different regions,and describe a specific time path.     

Substituting missing data in compositional analysis

Multivariate analysis of environmental data sets requires the absence of missing values or their substitution by small values. However, if the data is transformed logarithmically prior to the analysis, this solution cannot be applied because the logarithm of a small value might become an outlier. Several methods for substituting the missing values can be found in the literature although none of them guarantees that no distortion of the structure of the data set is produced. We propose a method for the assessment of these distortions which can be used for deciding whether to retain or not the samples or variables containing missing values and for the investigation of the performance of different substitution techniques. The method analyzes the structure of the distances among samples using Mantel tests. We present an application of the method to PCDD/F data measured in samples of terrestrial moss as part of a biomonitoring study.